Farmers Insurance Open: Golfer Picks to win at Torrey Pines

The PGA Tour is out in full force this week, as the field at Torrey Pines looks to be stacked full of talent for the Farmers Insurance Open.

If you take a look at the entrants to the Farmers Insurance Open this week, it’s going to make you smile. There is a lot of talent there this week, both established and upcoming.

Throughout the beginning of the season, guys like Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, and Patrick Reed would be the favorites at nearly any tournament that they entered. That isn’t the case at the Farmers Insurance Open, as none of them are in the top seven due to the talent that is assembled this week.

Tiger, Rory, Rambo, Rose, Xander, Hideki. That’s a lot of talent at the top of the field and should make for a fantastic week of golf… especially on a week where there is no football. We all know the Pro Bowl isn’t real, so don’t try to make that argument.

We were on the verge of getting you a winner last week, as it looked like Abraham Ancer (Corey Klatt’s pick) was going to get a win over Andrew Landry. Landry prevailed, and Ancer got second. In the wild world of golf, a second-place finish isn’t too shabby.

Let’s see if we can get a winner this week. With all the talent assembled, we have a wide range of choices for you at the Farmers Insurance Open. 14 took part this week, and we have ten different players selected.

In the famous words of Heath Ledger’s Joker…

And here… we… go.

Tiger Woods

Hans Geevers – Tiger has won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times. Yes, I know he has not played since the Presidents Cup. However, Tiger showed recently that he can win after a long layoff. He won the ZOZO Championship in October after being out for a significant amount of time due to knee surgery.

Brandon Raper – I’d love to sit here and tell you that I’m picking Charles Howell III this week, because CH3 is one of the true horses at Torrey Pines. Much like Charley Hoffman going low in the first round at Augusta, Howell is just always in the mix at the Farmers Insurance Open, and while he’s never won, you can’t really ever count him out.

However…I’m not that brave. I still love me some CH3, but I’m also nothing if not a realist. This field is S-T-A-C-K-E-D. I mean, come on, who doesn’t want to be in San Diego in January, playing golf at one of the most beautiful courses in the country? Especially with so many top guys making their season debut, this field is going to be electric.

Do you know who would make it even more electric? A healthy and not-particularly-rusty Tiger Woods, winner of this tournament seven times in his career, plus that famous U.S. Open that he won on one leg when people were still calling it “the last major he won”.

I’m not saying this will be a runaway, certainly with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Justin Rose out there. There are probably a dozen guys who I’d look at and say “yep, that makes sense” with a win this week. But give me Tiger at Torrey every single day and twice on Sunday, no matter the field.

Justin Rose

Matt Coles

Xander Schauffele

Kasey Kuhrts – Here is an excerpt from my article about Xander published today, and why he is my pick for this week.

“Xander started his 2019-20 season at the ZOZO Championship, where he finished in a tie for 10th. From there he went on to place second at the WGC-HSBC, followed by another tie for 10th at the Hero World Challenge, and was then a part of the winning United States Presidents Cup team.”

Hideki Matsuyama

Corey Klatt

Connor Schmidtke

Tony Finau

Eric Sedransk

Rickie Fowler

West Valentine – I’m picking with my heart this week. Rickie Fowler had a huge win to start the season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last year. He wasn’t able to capitalize on that momentum. I think (hope) he gets off to a fast start this year. A win at the Farmer Insurance would do just that.

Ryan Palmer

Bill Felber – I can’t choose from among Rose, Woods, McIlroy, et al and Palmer has been consistently steady. Besides, we’re way past due for a Palmer to win this championship.

Sungjae Im

Nicholas Neila

Jon Rahm

Billy Dowling

Richie Randolph – I’ll go with Jon Rahm for the Farmers. With Rory, Tiger, and a host of other top players in the field, the Spaniard feels like the forgotten man. The #3 ranked player in the world won this event in 2017 and his long driving and deft short game are a perfect fit for the bruising Torrey Pines. He won the European Tour’s Race to Dubai last year and is primed to win multiple times in 2020, starting with the Farmers.

Mike Randleman – An excerpt from the weekly power rankings on Rahm…

"“He’s finished T-13 or better in 14 straight events going back to last summer… Course history is on his side. Rahm won his Farmers Insurance Open debut in 2017 with an eagle on the par-5 18th that ultimately proved to be the winning putt.”"

Rory McIlroy

Chris O’Day – Each week, I put my pick in last after getting all of the other staff’s picks put together. It came as a surprise to me that no one else picked the current favorite to win the Farmers Insurance Open. This pushed me further into the decision to pick Rory. He is the 2nd ranked player in the world, only behind Koepka.

Rory has played twice this year, as the Japan Skins game was an unofficial event. He finished T-3rd at the Zozo Championship and won the WGC-HSBC Champions event. Oh, and he won the Tour Championship last year. He played in 19 events last year and finished in the top ten in 14 of them. Don’t forget about how hot Rory was to start the year last year. It looks like he is set to do the same this year, which is why I am taking him to keep doing so and win the Farmers Insurance Open.

Who do you think is going to win this week? Is there someone you feel should’ve been picked? Let us know, and let’s see who prevails this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.